I have to give Luck some credit here also...his pocket presence was exceptional and he stepped up in the pocket making accurate throws under pressure. This kid doesn't look like a rookie.

Yeah, I was saying that during the chat. Luck looked really good. Our D got in his face a lot and yet Luck pulled out points when he had to.

I do think that instead of complaining about how bad we were, we should admit that Reggie Wayne DESERVED the game ball. That guy was unstoppable. He somehow came up with the ball no matter what we did.

We were actually putting some good pressure on Luck too. But as you just said, his pocket presence was exceptional. Indy lucked out (no pun intended) being the worst team last year. If Luck plays 10 years, I can see him being one of the NFL's better QBs.

My man Donald Driver

(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)

2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. [tt] [mm] [ar]

But you get something going on offense, you keep their offense off the field. Even if you are just moving the chains, you are giving your D time to rest and have a bit of a fresher pass-rush.

Additionally, you have pressure being taken off the O-line. As well as limiting Rodgers holding the ball when he can clearly get rid of it to his receiver who has a good chance at the ball.

I've rarely questioned McCarthy as a coach, because so much of the game plays out after the play is called. But I really question what the hell he is doing with his play calling; I am not so sure that he is putting his players in the best position to make plays. That's a huge problem.

I don't disagree, and I have made the same pleas. It is evident from the outside looking in, so I wonder what we are not seeing from within?

Today I think he was scared away from the run with Benson going down.. but maybe late success with Green will change that. We shall see.

I really am not that upset with this loss... we lost that game on the field, we were beaten by a hungry and determined team. That is a compliment to the Colts today.

I think when there's enough will and aggression, there's no shortage of talent either.

I will disagree, the offensive line play today was fine. Actually the Tackles were damn near perfect today. We can't expect to drop back almost every snap and not expect the defense to just tee off on it.

So yes.. to the second part of the quote.. but oline play and pathetic today don't belong together. IMO.

I think when there's enough will and aggression, there's no shortage of talent either.

Missing Greg Jennings has a bigger impact on this team then we've imagined. We need him back and healthy 100% it's killing us! Trade Finley this off season and re-sign GJ.

Our WR has disappeared this year and our o-line ... pathetic ...

We need to keep pounding the ball with Benson / Starks / Green!

Greg Jennings doesn't have much effect on the defense. Packers put up 27, that should be enough to win. The defense is what had a major impact, by lacking one.

"I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." - Nikola Tesla

I was encouraged by both sides of the ball in the first half. Our O was doing a decent job of moving the ball & scoring, and our D was doing a terrific job of getting to Luck and shutting down the Colts. Not sure what transpired at half time, but it was a completely different team that came out.

Up 21 - 3 at half time, we shouldn't have lost this game. This was a complete collapse in all aspects--offense, defense, special teams.

2nd half offense stunk. If we're at the point that we lose Benson & our offense stagnates, then that's an offense I don't like. I don't think our RBs are THAT inept, I blame part of it on ZBS (I do and always have hated it), part on lack of commitment to the run. Whether that's Mike McCarthy or AR, don't know and don't care. First two possessions in the second half were all passes, and all but one of the plays was from the shotgun. That I blame on MM, not AR--the only run play Aaron Rodgers would be audibling out of in that formation is a draw play. Yeah, I know we weren't getting a lot out of the run game in the second half (until Green's 40 yd gain), but we need to at least make the attempt to slow down the Colts pass rush, make their DL/LBs change direction and chase the runner (tiring out the DL while you're at it).

2nd half defense stunk. Gave up 27 pts. Same thing about Raji as about Benson--losing one guy shouldn't be the death-knell to the defense. We have GOT to have backups that can step in and perform. Luck and Wayne just destroyed us in the 2nd half.

2nd half special teams failed, missing a 51 yd FG with a chance to tie the game. No, it wasn't short, but it was makeable. KO returns from 9 yards deep that don't even make the 20 yd line. Only bright spot was Masthay, and he got WAY too many opportunities to shine (7 punts).

Not sure what the pre-game and half-time prep is, but whatever it is isn't working. 5 weeks into the season, and we've scored a total of 20 pts in the 1st (14 pts) & 3rd (6 pts) quarters combined. We can't keep waiting for the 2nd & 4th qtrs to do something.

Reggie Wayne beat us. Last I checked, Reggie Wayne was a WR on the Colts, not a RB for the Packers.

Reggie can't beat us, if he is sitting on the sideline? That is what running the ball more would do. Benson has been doing a decent job of getting extra. But most of what Benson has been getting is due to the Oline having success blocking. It has been the same story for years. When the RB has success, the Oline is winning the battles, be that Starks in the SB run, or Grant before that.

The Line was winning battles on run plays, and giving up on that because One player goes down is piss pour play calling. No matter what, that falls on McCarthy. Either because he is calling the plays, or because he is not monitoring and correcting Rodgers from checking the all to run.

2nd half defense stunk. Gave up 27 pts. Same thing about Raji as about Benson--losing one guy shouldn't be the death-knell to the defense. We have GOT to have backups that can step in and perform. Luck and Wayne just destroyed us in the 2nd half.

Great point about the number of shot-gun snaps to start the 2nd half. I'm not sure if Philbin made that much of a difference to McCarthy at least somewhat attempting to stick with the run; Philbin was an O-line coach and Clements was a QB coach before they became the OC. But, really, McCarthy's inability to commit to running the ball when it is obviously providing a benefit is worrisome.

As for the Defense.... how many times can you recall Clay, in between plays, standing still with his hand on his hips and looking around like he was in the latter stages of the game? Hell, I'm certain on one play I saw Clay stop trying after the RB made a cut behind Clay when Clay was 3-4 yards away. In other words, how many time do you see Clay actually stop pursuit altogether so early? I think that speaks volumes about how tired the D was... and they had reason to be after getting barely any breathing time by our incompetent offense.

"We're up 21-3 at halftime and we sort of changed our game plan in the second half and we couldn't do (expletive)," an obviously angry guard T.J. Lang said. "They knew all we were doing was throwing the ball so they were coming with everything they had."

In my opinion, Tom Silverstein article from the Journal Sentinel summed things up pretty well, though I think he puts more on McCarthy and not enough on our O & D not executing in the second half than I would. It required an all-around effort to lose that game, not just the coaching:

Indianapolis - Coach Mike McCarthy often talks about the "next man up" when it comes to dealing with injuries, but in a devastating loss to a team hardly equipped to deal with his Green Bay Packers, McCarthy forgot his own code.

The Packers (2-3) may never recover this season from a 30-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, but they did have a chance to remain afloat inside the dome after losing leading rusher Cedric Benson with a sprained foot.

According to the next man up observance, second-year back Alex Green should have stepped in and assumed Benson's role, allowing McCarthy to stick to his original game plan.

Had McCarthy actually done so, the game Sunday might have been different. After two quarters of limited opportunity, Green busted off a 41-yard run that turned the game around. One play later, receiver James Jones scored on an 8-yard touchdown pass to give the Packers a 27-22 lead with just over 4 minutes left.

Green's run was the longest by a Packer since Dec. 11 of last year and only the team's fourth run of 40 or more yards since the start of the 2010 season. It came on just his 11th carry of the season.

Given the success the offense had in building a 21-3 lead with Benson gaining a modest 20 yards on seven carries, it's possible the game would have been different if Green had been used similarly. Before getting hurt, Benson thought the Packers were on their way to a good running day.

"I had a good feeling that it would be a big game, not only for me but every skill position, every player," Benson said afterward, a medical boot on his left foot. "It's just surprising that it didn't."

Benson said his foot swelled up too much to continue after a Colts player landed on it, following a 3-yard reception. He said he had faith that the "next man up" would be able to pick up where he left off.

Only McCarthy didn't give him a chance.

After calling eight runs in the 17 plays leading up to Benson's injury, McCarthy called just nine in the next 42 times quarterback Aaron Rodgers took a snap. It's not known how many of those plays Rodgers changed from runs to passes at the line of scrimmage.

Green created some doubt about his effectiveness with five of his carries totaling minus-3 yards.

But after playing to stop Benson in the first half, the Colts seemed content to turn on their jets and go after Rodgers with no fear of being gashed by the run in the second half. Rodgers was sacked five times after halftime.

"We have to make sure we're able to run the ball," guard Josh Sitton said. "We have to have that variety. We're not the same team as last year, obviously. We can't sit back there and throw the ball 20 times in a row to be successful.

"We have to run the ball and have the confidence in the play caller to call the run and we need to run the ball."

The Packers clearly aren't the 2011 team that set franchise records for passing yards and points. In five games, they have scored 112 points, 61 fewer than they scored in the first five last year. They topped 390 yards in each of their five games last year and have topped it just once this year.

Going into the game, Colts players said the pass game was not their primary concern.

"Take care of Cedric Benson, first of all, stopping the run," end Cory Redding said. "And then two, getting on the passer, mixing it up on the back end where you can't read our coverages as much and trying to eliminate the big plays."

With Benson presenting something of a threat, Rodgers got some one-on-one matchups with his receivers, some he took advantage of and some he didn't. His worst miss was a third and 6 on the first series when he overthrew an open Jordy Nelson down the right sideline.

But Rodgers was able to stretch the field and engineered touchdown drives of 56, 65 and 66 yards on the way to a 21-3 halftime lead.

"I thought we moved the ball well today," said receiver James Jones, who stayed hot with four catches for 46 yards and two touchdowns. "Second half, the first four drives they got us, but first half we moved the ball up and down the field and probably left another score out there.

"We just have to be consistent."

The first series of the second half gave Indianapolis life.

McCarthy threw on all four plays, one of which resulted in a holding penalty and another an interception. The interception came on a third and 2 from the Packers' 28.

The next series was three passes, one of which resulted in a 5-yard sack and another an illegal forward pass. Green got the ball three times on the next series, but he managed 1, 1 and minus-4 yards on a drive that ended with kicker Mason Crosby missing the first of two 50-yard-plus field goals.

After that, Green carried just two more times before breaking off his 41-yard run.

He admitted it might have taken him a little while to get acclimated, especially since he had carried only twice this season after an off-season rehabilitating a knee reconstruction. But he said he got enough practice snaps this week to be prepared.

"Yeah, I hadn't played this much this year," Green said. "I guess you could say that, (that) it took a little while to get used to the defense and things like that and get situated with the offense and things like that.

"But once the ball got to me I tried to make the best play possible. One thing about being a running back is getting downhill, so I just tried to do the best I could do to get downhill and not mess up."

Green's 41-yard run was an inside zone play where the seas parted nicely for him and he was able to run past the linebackers and down the sideline. Of all the backs the Packers have, Green is the fastest and he showed it on that carry.

He finished with 55 yards on nine carries.

"We have to figure out a way to win these games," Sitton said. "I know it's not easy to win in this league. It's pretty obvious. We jump out and same story, we get shut down. We have to close out the game. We have to find a way at the end."

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